Superheater.



No. 738,530. 1 PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1903 W. I. M. DOBSON.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT OEEIcE.

l/VILLIAM J. M. DOBSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK.

SUPERH EATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,530, dated September 8, 1903.

Application filed May 24, 1902. Serial No. 108,752. (No model.)

To a, whowt it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. M. Don- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Superheaters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to means for raising the temperature of steam used in the manufacture or conversion of various products. I will describe it as applied to a steam-kettle used in the manufacture of sugar.

It is important at some stages of the process to raise the temperature of the kettle and its contents for short periods considerably above the normal heat derived from the steampipe from the boiler. Ordinarily the higher temperature is attained by raising the temperature of the steam-boiler whence the supply is obtained, and thus correspondingly increasing the pressure therein, besides consuming considerable time in reaching the desired temperature.

The object of this invention is to provide means whereby the temperature of the steam may be quickly increased to the desired degree without raising the pressure in the boiler and also allow the temperature to be speedily lowered when the period during which increased heat is required has passed.

I employ a coil forming part of the steamsupply pipe adjacent to the kettle inclosed in a suitable casin g and provided with an easilycontrolled source of heat, as a Bunsen or bydrocarbon burner. The flame and heat therefrom bathe the convolutions of the coil and rapidly raise the temperature proportionately as the flame is increased. The steam is thus superheated as it enters the kettle, and by varying the supply of gas or other fuel to the burner the degree of heat required may be very exactly m aintained. In the most complete form of the invention I also employ an automatic controlling device for the fuelsupply actuated by the steam-pressure in the coil and arranged to reduce the flame as the pressure rises.

The invention consists in certain details of construction and arrangements of parts by which the desired objects are attained, as outlined above and to be hereinafter fully described.

,kettle equipped with my superheater.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and show the invention as I have carried it out.

Figure 1 is an elevation oi. an open steam- Fig. 2 is a corresponding vertical section, partly in elevation; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section, on a larger scale, showing the automatic controlling device. Fig. at is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 1, but on a smaller scale, and shows the attachment to a vacuum-pan.

In this figure the automatic controlling device is omitted.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A is an open steam-kettle, shown as having a steam-jacket steam-boiler which may be more or less dis-.

tant from the kettle, and B is a spiral orconical coil forming part of the supply-pipe and placed as near the kettle as practicable. The

coil is inclosed in a casing D, adapted to confine the heat received from a burner 0 below to the coil. The burner represented is a Bunsen burner in the form of a ring, supported in the lower portion of the casing. It receives gas frorn a pipe O,the delivery-nozzle of which extends a short distance within the flared open end of an air-supply pipe and mixingchamber O From the upper end of the coil the steam passes through a short pipe B to the steam-jacket A and delivers its heat to the bottom of the kettle, escaping through the pipe 13 A branch pipe 13 from the pipe B delivers steam to the coil A and thence escapes through the pipe B Valves 6 b operated by hand, control the flow through the pipes B B and allow the steam jacket and coil to be heated independently or together, as conditions may require.

D is a hood serving to check the too-rapid escape of heat through the casing D.

Steam at boiler pressure and temperature passes through the superheating-coil B to the kettle and performs its usual duty in heating the contents of the latter. When it is desired to raise the temperature, the burner 0 is lighted and imparts additional heat to the steam in its passage through the coil. By regulating the supply of gas the temperature of the steam entering the kettle may be correspondingly controlled, and when the period of required high temperature has passed the reduction to boiler temperature is quickly attained by shutting off the gas-supply. The temperature of the kettle is thus easily controlled by the attendant.

Gis a balanced valve in the gas-supply pipe 0 between the valve 0 and the coil B. It is controlled by a lever G, receiving motion through a link or rod G from a lever H actuated by the movement of a diaphragm H, subject to the steam-pressure in the coil B. The diaphragm is inclosed in acasing H and receives steam beneath it through a pipe H An increase in pressure raises the diaphragm and through the stem H correspondingly tilts the lever H on its fulcrum h,and through the connections described moves the balanced valve in the direction to reduce the supply of gas. By properly conditioning the valve and diaphragm and the intermediate connections the apparatus may be set to maintain a certain fixed temperature so long as the the correspondingincrease in pressure move I the valve in the direction to reduce the flame, and any tendency to fall below that degree will be checked by the automatic movement of the valve in the direction 'to increase the flame, as will be understood.

The apparatus is simplein construction and operation and is easily applied to kettles already set up and in operation. The main advantages are its economy, requiring only sufficient heat to raise the small volume of steam passing into the kettle instead of raising the temperature at the boiler, the rapidity with which a high temperature may be attained and afterward quickly reduced, and the facility with which the desired temperature may be evenly maintained during the desired period.

Although I have described the invention as applied to a steam-kettle, it will be understood that it will serve in connection with other vessels or in any situation in which it is applicable-as, for instance, motors of various types requiring superheated vapor.

The automatic regulating device may be omitted. Fig. 4: shows a vacuum-pan thus conditioned.

I claim- 1. The combination with a steam-kettle or analogous apparatus, of a steam-supply pipe therefor, a superheating-coil forming a portion of said pipe and located exteriorly of said apparatus and immediately adjacent thereto, and an independent heating device arranged to supply heat directly to said coil,

whereby steam passing through said coil may be superheated immediately before entering said apparatus, a heating-coil in said apparatus and a connection between the superheating-coil and the last-mentioned coil.

2. The combination with a steam-kettle or analogous apparatus, a heating-coil therein and a steam-jacket of a steam-supply pipe for said kettle, a superheating-coil forming a portion of said pipe and located exteriorly of said apparatus and immediately adjacent thereto, and an independent heating device arranged to supply heat directly to said coil, a valved connection between the superheatin g-coil and the coil in the kettle and a valved branch therefrom to the steam-jacket whereby said jacket and heating-coil may be heated independently or together, and an automatic regulator for controlling said heating device, whereby steam passing through said coil is superheated immediately before entering said apparatus and maintained ata predetermined temperature.

3. The combination with a steam-kettle or analogous apparatus,and a heating-coil therein of a steam-supply pipe B therefor, a superheating-coil B forming a portion of said pipe and located exteriorly of and immediately adjacent to said apparatus, a connection between the superheating-coil and the heating-coil and a branch from said connection leading to the jacket of said kettle, a casing inclosing said coil, a burner O in the lower portion of said casing, and a fuel-supply pipe therefor, and means for controlling the fuel supply, whereby steam passing through said coil is superheated immediately before entering said apparatus.

4c. The combination with a steam-kettle or analogous apparatus, and a heating-coil within said kettle of a steam-supply pipe B therefor, a superheating-coil B forming a portion of said pipe and located exteriorly of and immediately adjacent to said apparatus, a pipe leading from the superheating-coil, and connections from said pipe to the steam-heating coil and the jacket of the kettle, and valves in said connections whereby the jacket and coil may be heated independently or together, a casing inclosing said coil, a burner O in the lower portion of said casing, a fuelsupply pipe therefor, a valve in said fuel-supply pipe, means actuated by pressure in said coil and connections from said means to said 7 WILLIAM J. M. DOBSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES R. SEARLE, L. GARDELLA. 

